There are several educators from the ancient world through the Age of Enlightenment whose ideas are still present in today’s American education system. In fact, these educational beliefs that today's educators so heavily rely on would not even exist if it were not for philosophers such as Confucius, Aristotle, Locke and Aquinas. These education innovators all had different ideas and philosophies that they felt passionately about during their lives. No matter how one may agree or disagree with some of their views, there is no arguing that they were obviously instrumental in developing what we know today as our education system.

I have gathered together some of the most famous philosophers behind educational thought here to show how what we know as education has changed over time. I have included other things such as links to other sites for supplemental information. Enjoy!